The Trial of Tornado, X-Warrior in the team known as Generation Next, had begun and Dave Goldfish couldn't care less. He thought the thing was a charade anyway, and was worth less than his attention. Whether Tornado had betrayed his friends by using the enemy to save their lives was pointless and if the other X-Warriors were taking it seriously, then more fool they. Besides he had things to do. The repairs that were going on around C&C were taking time, and with Dave's renewed Fringe status, and his duties as a parent, he was being stretched way too much. Tonight, however, he was taking the night off and spending time with his wife and child. Being gone for so long had made him a little less tolerant of many of the XWarriors and things that made him genuinely happy were few and far between. His parents were on holiday in Europe, Jo's father had seen his grandchild for the first time and things were getting back to normal. He remembered what he had said to Fever. 'I bring chaos and dissention wherever I go' and he wondered how long it would last.
"Now that was stupid," he said to himself, knowing it wouldn't last long now.
Sapphire de Silva was in charge of C&C that night whilst Dave took a well deserved rest. He had been working flat out to get his home back to normal and now he was tired. She watched the monitors, thinking there was something she was missing about the malfunctions, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and watched the world with interest.
Trayne looked at his watch. It was nearly time. Emma was his intelligence and special operations operative. Lisa, his wife, was their computer expert and it was she who had created the virus which was disrupting the systems in C&C. However there was still one more system that needed disrupting. This was the big one and now was time to put the start of Aughoti's plan in to operation...
Dave put his daughter to bed and went back to his wife, thinking that Bethany's psionic powers were powerful, even now. He knew that they were at their peak and would remain so for a long time to come. Still, with the X gene she possessed, he'd known this might be the case. As long as nothing else came just yet, the secret would be safe. Then he heard a whirring, that he had not heard in C&C before.
"Now what's gone wrong?" he asked the air as he went to his room. Jo was stood waiting.
"What is that whirring?"
"I don't know," admitted Dave, and for someone who was supposed to know what every sound in his building was, it made him nervous. He flipped the com pad. "Sapphire, what's going on?"
"...going on?"
"I don't know," she said as she looked at the control panel. "It looks like all your files are downloading in to a protected area." She heard Dave gasp, and was blinded by the flash as he appeared next to her. He sat down at the panel and began to type on the keyboard. "What is it?" she asked.
"My files are doing something they shouldn't," he replied.
"Someone's hacking into them?"
"No. They're being placed in to one of my safety zones. They only do that if the prime files are about to be wiped."
"I don't understand."
"Neither do I," said Dave, though he was extremely worried. Suddenly he stopped typing. "Oh no," he said and he concentrated.
Jo hadn't seen Dave like this in a long time. She was wondering what was going on when she heard him.
:::Jo::: he called.
:::Dave::: she sent back.
:::What's wrong?:::
:::Get a lock on all four of us, now!:::
:::Why?:::
:::When I give the word, teleport us all to the Bar and Grille:::
:::Okay::: said Jo and she went to get her baby.
"Dave, what's going on," Sapphire asked him. He stopped playing with the console, a look of defeat in his eyes.
"I can't stop it."
"Can't stop what?"
"C&C is about to explode."
"How?"
"The main power core. It suddenly lost all stability. We have less than two minutes to a core breach."
"So C&C goes. It can be rebuilt."
"You don't understand. It's not the power core we had when you were here. It's a Shi'ar star drive which powers their battlecruisers. When it goes bang, the entire British Isles and surrounding area will be nothing more than an ocean filled crater over athousand miles wide."
"That's billions of people," exclaimed Sapphire.
"I know," said Dave, through gritted teeth, the desperation in his voice. "England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, most of France and all the little islands in betweeen will be literally vapourised, thirty seconds after core breach." Plus the base of the Crimson Shadow, a new team of villains who had appeared in his absence, who were based in Scotland. Every cloud, he thought and he looked at the clock. They had ten seconds left. :::Jo! Now!::: he called and they departed for the Bar and Grille. C&C was deserted and soon the whirring stopped. All that could be heard was a distant crackling as the core became unstable. Dave was suddenly teleported back in to his room. He ran to the cupboard and picked up the daystaff. He really didn't have time to get it but he had to. He looked at his watch and realising the time he had left got Jo to get him back. No sooner had he left than he whole area filled with light and radiation, there was now sound except for a distant whine as the destruction travelled at light speed, vapourising everything in its path as it reached it's zenith. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ceased to exist...